Flowers of those who stay

Arriving at Heaven's Gate, he recognized the stone stele engraved with the names of his father and the fallen doctors, lying quietly on the top of the hill, amid the roaring sound of pine trees. In front is a rose of many colors. The flower petals are still fresh, as if someone here regularly takes care of them and visits them.

The closer he got to Cui hamlet, the more he felt like he was driving decades into the past - where there were only old wooden houses nestled on the edge of the forest. The air was hazy in the cold mist. Halfway up the slope is the Cui hamlet clinic. Outside in the yard, there were old and young people standing and peering into the hospital room door. Through their whispers, he knew that a pregnant woman was in labor that day.

Near evening, he met Dr. Luong when he finished delivering the birth. It was an old man with a calm face, white hair like frost, and a long scar on his cheek. Seeing him, his eyes brightened: "Nephew Nhan is Giao's son, right?". Confused, he opened his backpack to find the job appointment paper at the Cui hamlet clinic. Doctor Luong smiled and waved his hand: "I know, let's go home and rest."

Surprisingly, I didn't know that for many years, Dr. Luong has always been in contact with his family and followed his every step.

Doctor Luong led him towards a small house just a few dozen meters from the clinic, nestled in the middle of a row of climbing roses, their branches and leaves thickly intertwined, alternating colors of pale rose, purple red, orange yellow, fragrant. hillside. With tears in my eyes, I suddenly realized the owner of the roses placed on the memorial stone.

"Coming here is still very poor and boring, have you thought about it carefully?", Dr. Luong suddenly asked. Nhan looked around the simple old wooden house of the elderly couple, his arms were covered in black soot because he still had to cook with a wood stove. The night in the mountain village was cold, all around was quiet with only the sounds of insects and birds cooing from the edge of the forest.

He understood why Dr. Luong asked him that question, but wouldn't he go wherever someone needed him? Dad also lived a life like that! Doctor Luong was touched and thought to himself: "The boy really looks like Mr. Giao."

He suddenly remembered one day at the end of 1980, when he was still a young doctor in town, eager for anti-epidemic trips. The morning was still foggy, the couple jumped up, rushed to the kitchen to light a fire and roasted two large batches of corn. The weather was bitterly cold, Luong hugged the bag full of corn close to his chest for warmth, and headed towards the trail leading to the station.

Suddenly lingering next to a newly cut rose branch in front of the house that had a few buds still wet with dew, he called out to his wife: "It already has buds, it will probably bloom when I get home."

At the station, doctors and staff from the malaria team, driver and courier also just arrived. He excitedly opened the bag of warm popcorn, went around and gave a large handful to each person: "You guys should eat quickly or you'll break your teeth when it gets cold." Everyone happily took it, put it in their blouse pockets, chewed happily while loading the boxes of medicine onto the new canvas-covered truck donated by UNICEF.

Nine doctors and nurses took turns climbing into the trunk of the vehicle. "It's too tight, let Luong and I sit outside on the bed," Doctor Giao suggested.

The group headed towards Cui hamlet, which at that time was still a day's journey from town. The other day there was a letter asking for aid because the malaria epidemic was very severe. The road into the village is full of dangerous curves, passing through vast pine forests. The road surface is rough and rocky.

Doctor Giao nudged Luong's hand: "Hey, how are you doing?" When you come back from this trip, please cut some branches for me. My wife also likes roses." "If you like it, you can, but you keep blaming me," Dr. Giao burst out laughing. Laughter was occasionally interrupted by bumpy roads.

Nearing Heaven's Gate - which was very close to Cui hamlet, suddenly there was a "chat" of gunshots hitting the trunk of the car. "Who shot in what strange way?", Doctor Giao shouted loudly. In the car, there were constant "ah" and "oops" sounds from the brothers. The car stopped completely, perhaps everyone was shot. Next to Luong, Doctor Giao was holding his stomach, fresh blood spurting out, an M79 bullet lodged in his side.

Looking at the bullet, Luong immediately guessed that it was probably an ambush by FULRO forces to stop the drug robbery. He quickly pressed Doctor Giao to lie down next to the car's fender. They both slowly crawled down to nestle against the wheel and then moved towards the edge of the road. Gunfire was still going off. “Were you hit by the bullet, Luong?”.

Luong felt pain all over his body, fresh blood soaked his clothes, he still didn't know where he was hit. At that moment, a loud explosion rang out and the car caught fire. A doctor was thrown out of the car and fell in front of him, his body bursting into flames.

"Luong, can you still walk?" Doctor Giao shook Luong who was motionless. He was dumbfounded when he looked at his brothers in the same group, some burned black, some fell on the hood of the car, still holding the popcorn shared in the morning in their mouths. Luong let out a dry sob, staring at the wound on his teammate's hip: "You don't care about me, go find someone quickly!"

Dr. Luong tried to drag himself along the roadside, he found the Forestry team camping nearby, used all his strength, exclaimed: "Go to Heaven's Gate to save my brothers", then fainted. When he woke up, he saw the pure white color of the hospital all around him. Outside in the yard, there were moans and cries, resonating with dozens of people.

A doctor approached the bed, eyes filled with tears, and stammered to announce that his brothers had passed away. He was the only one who survived despite having a total of eleven bullet wounds on his body. The Forestry Team found Doctor Giao, but he also died on the way back to the hospital.

At that moment, a little boy about 5-6 years old suddenly rushed to his hospital bed: "Dad! Daddy!". He stopped, looked at his face in bewilderment, then cried. The woman ran back and hugged her child: "It's not Dad, Dad... is gone." Mother and child cried on the floor.

He recognized Nhan - Doctor Giao's only child. At that moment, he felt guilty for being the "lucky" survivor. He lay blankly staring at the cold ceiling, not daring to blink, because every time his eyelashes moved, tears flowed out without being able to stop them.

People healed the wounds on his skin, but the obsession in his heart could not be mended. Every day that followed was difficult. Dr. Luong hid his severe depression and spent long nights waking up in nightmares. Because he had many injuries, his unit arranged him to do light administrative work with paperwork and books. But each day passes heavy and meaningless. The sadness gradually turns into a feeling of despondency, seemingly erasing all hope and joy in life.

Two years later, he proactively sent an application to transfer work to Cui village - at that time there was a shortage of doctors. He still believes that the injuries on his body do not affect his ability to cure patients.

At that time, the Cui hamlet clinic was still a shabby old house, lacking everything. Many people in the neighborhood said that in the past, they only knew how to cure diseases with forest leaves or leave their lives in the hands of God. Sometimes they also try to carry seriously ill people or pregnant women having difficulty giving birth on homemade hammocks or stretchers, traveling all day to the town hospital. Yet, many times when they carried it halfway, they had to carry it back because the patient was barely alive and wanted to die at home.

Since the day Dr. Luong arrived, every day there have been a few cases of malaria, dengue fever, accidents in the forest, pregnant women in labor or injured mischievous children... Every time someone gets sick, the whole neighborhood leaves. finished work, gathered in front of the clinic door. The window of the hospital room at that time was like a projection screen, people became spectators attentively watching the doctor treat the patient.

They cheered and shook the doctor's hand as he walked out. Dr. Luong silently thanked them, because here, he was a real doctor again. It was these simple people who made each day more meaningful for him, causing the sadness and grief to fade away.

The people of Cui hamlet wanted to keep the doctor, so they built a small wooden house for him and his wife like many other houses in the hamlet. His wife happily dug the ground and replanted the roses brought from the old house. Living in a cold land, the rose bushes soon took root and sprouted flowers.

Doctor Luong cut the first flowers, rode his bicycle to Heaven's Gate, and lit a stick of incense for the fallen. Later, a stele was erected in this place by the Provincial Health Union to commemorate the medical martyrs.

As the years passed by, the people of Cui hamlet gradually felt reassured by the presence of Dr. Nhan. The clinic was also newly built and equipped with more machines, ambulances, and two more young nurses returned. Doctor Luong and his wife decided it was time to say goodbye to Cui hamlet and return to town - where there was still a small garden and the old house that they did not hesitate to abandon decades ago.

Before leaving, Dr. Luong "handed over" the row of ancient roses for Nhan to take care of, only cutting a few branches to take with him. He will replant a new rose garden from those small branches as if to carry out a new mission in life. He believes that if there is a task left, people will always know how to move forward.

Today, Nhan went to visit Heaven's Gate and saw a bouquet of fresh roses placed there. He smiled, knowing that Dr. Luong's rose garden had bloomed its first flowers.